I was shocked to see that Chicago's not in the top 5, but then there it was, holding onto it's spot in the top ten. I note that traffic ( ) and the insane commute in Chicago is ranked at #4. Quel surprise

It's interesting when you consider that many people feel East Coast folks are fast-paced and intense compared to their more laidback, slow-paced, and supposedly health conscious West Coasters. You would think more East Coast cities would be deemed stressful.

I think these two factors may have skewed the rankings a bit, Limited Health Care and Poor Physical Health. East Coast cities often have better services and a better safety net so those two aspects might lower their rankings, but I'm not sure that's exactly what we are all thinking of when we think stress.

D.C. is known for its workaholics, but actually outside of the hard-driving politicos its quite laid-back. I think. Or maybe that's me that's laid-back.

On the exercise thing though, there are so many people out running in my neighborhood it looks like its an outdoor gym.

The only thing that truly stressed me while living in #3 Houston were the frequent traffic jams on the highways in town. Other than that, I didn't feel all that much stress.

As for Chicago, again, any stress I felt generally was the result of traffic jams going to/from work (I lived in the city, but worked out in the suburbs). After my first year there, I no longer needed to do that commute and I couldn't have been happier in Chicago.

I guess the theme of the story for me is driving. If I don't have to deal with driving & frequent traffic jams, I feel relatively happy and much less stressed. That's why I'll always prefer locations like Boston, NYC, Philly, DC, Chicago, and San Fran... all of which offer a more realistic chance of avoiding the freeways and instead either walking or using rapid transit to get to work.

There would have to be more people there. Besides, when no one works, how bad can the commute be?

I'd agree with Blue Ridge, except if you try to drive during rush hour, DC is fairly laid-back. If anything it still gets derided as being a little too 'sleepy Southern city", which was fine for me at any rate. Also, no supertall buildings creating that prison atmosphere the big cities have.

The one I'm amazed missed the top ten is Boston. It's NIGHTMARE to drive in, on or off the major roads, it's incredibly expensive, the public transit system is only slightly less confusing than New York's...someone asked me once why I drove nearly an hour to work instead of taking the T, and I explained, even living walking distance from my town's commuter rail stop, that would have taken around two hours one-way and involved the commuter rail, the T, and at least one and possibly two bus lines in a very circuitous route.

D.C. is known for its workaholics, but actually outside of the hard-driving politicos its quite laid-back. I think. Or maybe that's me that's laid-back.

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The latter. Some of us could keep Xanax profitable all by ourselves if we wanted to, personally I would rather feel the stress than the chemical. We do have a really high proportion of exercisers, though, and our unemployment rate is relatively low. The commute is dreadful but more and more people are moving into town, DC's population is on the upswing.

But it's not the politicos, or not just the politicos. I've been in restaurants recently where you could play a chorale from everybody's Blackberries pinging at 9:00 PM.

I think DC is laid back. I don't feel stressed out there and don't get the hectic vibe that NYC has in spades, even when I'm around stressed out people in DC who can't function without their crackberries or some other device of self-inflicted torture. Rather pastoral there, yes.

I think DC is laid back. I don't feel stressed out there and don't get the hectic vibe that NYC has in spades, even when I'm around stressed out people in DC who can't function without their crackberries or some other device of self-inflicted torture. Rather pastoral there, yes.

Miami is #6. Surprise. I don't have the link but recently we were ranked #1 for rudest drivers and when you drive to work here, the stupidity on the road brings out your homicidal tendencies.

Getting things done ontime in Miami also takes a ton of effort. Then, there's the heat to consider

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Does that "Miami" include the entire SouFla tri-county megalopolis? Or is it just the very fun city & county where running red lights is now being debated as a constitutional right & beeping the horn at stop signs gives you the right of way to go on through at speed?

And, as you say, then there's the heat. And we ain't talkin' basketball here, folks....

NJL (...not to mention the invasion of the Burmese pythons........still not talkin' sports, just everyday livin' in paradise ........)

The drivers here are unreal. A lot of them are uninsured and/or illegal so hit and runs are common, depending on what area you're driving in. You also have people who have NO BUSINESS having a license. I know of them..her rap sheet is two pages long, she's been arrested for a suspended license..and yet..they give her a hardship license. *sigh*

I've had to use the skills I learned in my defensive driving course to avoid wrecks that would have a)killed me or b) severely injured me. This happens at least once a month. I am not exaggerating. I hate I-95 and the Palmetto (know as the Crawlmetto).

Recently in the Miami Herald newspaper, they had a big to-do over cameras being installed at intersections. I want one at every corner timed to ticket anyone who blows through a red light ( a full red..not a yellow like these cameras have unfortunately been doing). Just doing that would get this county out of its 400 million dollar deficit.

Oh, and save a few lives.

Then i could talk about the lack of transit service..our bus system needs an overhaul. Our metro-rail is a joke and basically the city is NOT built for mass transit, hence the reason why "rush hour" lasts about 4 hours every morning and afternoon.

Does that "Miami" include the entire SouFla tri-county megalopolis? Or is it just the very fun city & county where running red lights is now being debated as a constitutional right & beeping the horn at stop signs gives you the right of way to go on through at speed

The drivers here are unreal. A lot of them are uninsured and/or illegal so hit and runs are common, depending on what area you're driving in. You also have people who have NO BUSINESS having a license. I know of them..her rap sheet is two pages long, she's been arrested for a suspended license..and yet..they give her a hardship license. *sigh*

I've had to use the skills I learned in my defensive driving course to avoid wrecks that would have a)killed me or b) severely injured me. This happens at least once a month. I am not exaggerating. I hate I-95 and the Palmetto (know as the Crawlmetto).

Recently in the Miami Herald newspaper, they had a big to-do over cameras being installed at intersections. I want one at every corner timed to ticket anyone who blows through a red light ( a full red..not a yellow like these cameras have unfortunately been doing). Just doing that would get this county out of its 400 million dollar deficit.

Oh, and save a few lives.

Then i could talk about the lack of transit service..our bus system needs an overhaul. Our metro-rail is a joke and basically the city is NOT built for mass transit, hence the reason why "rush hour" lasts about 4 hours every morning and afternoon.

Whew! Okay I'm done

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Jeebus, my parents are always telling me how terrible driving in LA is, but the worst that's happened to me was that some guy wanted to right-turn into the same lane I wanted to left-turn into (on my left arrow light) and we missed each other by several inches. Nearly gave me a heart attack, but if we had actually hit each other, I wouldn't have been injured much. I've also nearly clipped another car changing into the same lane I wanted to change into, but that's just a matter of looking more carefully, not being a jerk.

Otherwise driving in LA is perfectly fine. I've never seen anyone beep at a stop sign, that's just being a jerk.

As I understand it this was accepted practice in Cuba, pre-Castro. Just the way things were done there. Maybe it still is. Many of the Cubans that came to Miami brought the practice with them and continued to do it in the heavily Cuban parts of the City of Miami. As they've moved to the suburbs & they and their kids, grand kids, etc have become more Americanized - or the older folks have died out - the practice has become quite rare. Personally I've never seen it done anywhere other than downtown Miami or it's near vicinity. It was exciting to watch. Somewhat akin to a figure - 8 race....

As for running red lights; I think that that is seen as a right by many here now. Most of us wait several seconds when a light turns green before we proceed. It's safer that way. It seems there is always at least one horse's ass that will go zooming through seconds after a light turns.

In DC, the cab drivers are the worst drivers. I'm not kidding. They're Ethiopian and Somali, largely. They drive really slowly looking for fares, change lanes and turn without signaling and generally make city driving a PITA.

This morning I walked to work for the first time in a while, since I hate the heat but it's not that bad yet today. Strolling down 14th Street, seeing all the other workers with their coffees and IPODs, was actually relaxing. I need to walk to work more often.

And part of the reason we have a laid-back vibe is that you can see the sky here. We have a height restriction, no building can be taller than the capitol, and that makes for a horizontal city with wide sightlines. I swear when I'm in NY I feel like I'm walking at the bottom of a well, I can't stand the way the buildings tower over me and block out the sun.

I think the height restriction definitely makes DC more livable--more human scale. People talk about lifting the restrictions because density is more environmentally sound supposedly, but I think its quite possible to have density without tall buildings (tall being anything over 12 stories). I think that more cities should revolt against tall buildings. They are inhuman, especially as living spaces.

Our cab drivers are great. We are lucky to have one of the highest per capita number of cabs. You can always get a cab. And since most of them are immigrants they won't even talk to you while you're riding. (Not that most people consider that as important... )

I think the height restriction definitely makes DC more livable--more human scale. People talk about lifting the restrictions because density is more environmentally sound supposedly, but I think its quite possible to have density without tall buildings (tall being anything over 12 stories). I think that more cities should revolt against tall buildings. They are inhuman, especially as living spaces.

Our cab drivers are great. We are lucky to have one of the highest per capita number of cabs. You can always get a cab. And since most of them are immigrants they won't even talk to you while you're riding. (Not that most people consider that as important... )

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They're really nice people but they don't drive well. And they might not talk to you but they're sure talking to someone on their BlueTooth phones! I've discovered that both Urdu and Amharic are really interesting-sounding languages.